Ukraine has no claims to the investigation into the case of Ukrainian National Guard serviceman Vitaliy Markiv, who was arrested in Italy, but relies on the objectivity of the Italian side in this matter and the agreement to establish a joint investigation team, Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General Yevhen Yenin has said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He recalled that the death of Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli and a number of persons was being investigated by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) as a “terrorist attack.” According to Yenin, a similar case was being investigated by the Italian law enforcement agencies.
“We have repeatedly forwarded proposals to the Italian side to help investigate this crime since we are talking about the same events. Six months ago, we sent a letter signed by the prosecutor general and the SBU chief. We invited Italian law enforcement agencies to come to the scene of the crime and examine the materials of criminal proceedings, which are at the disposal of the SBU,” Yenin said.
He also said that the Ukrainian side had proposed to Italian colleagues to create a joint investigation team to speed up the exchange of information and the effectiveness of the investigation. At the same time, according to Yenin, Ukraine has not yet received an answer from the Italian side on this issue.
“To date, we have no claims about the objectivity of the investigation process in Italy. We trust our Italian partners,” Yenin said.
As reported, Ukrainian serviceman Markiv was detained in Italy on June 30, 2017, on suspicion of killing Rocchelli near Sloviansk, Donetsk region, in May 2014. The Ukrainian is in the Italian city of Pavia.
Media reported that Pavia prosecutors had opened a criminal case into the circumstances of the death of an Italian and Russian journalist during 2014 in Donbas war zone based on testimony from a French journalist. The French journalist said shelling by National Guard unit, in which Markiv served, caused the deaths of the journalists. The French journalist provided what he claimed was video evidence of his claim.
Yenin, in turn, said the Italian photojournalist had been killed in an area not under control of Ukrainian forces.
